Month: March 2020

The one where I’ve nearly topped the AppleBooks chart

Jessica Redland Author7 Comments

Apple BOTW Making WishesHave you ever achieved something that wasn’t even a goal of yours because it seemed so out of reach that having it as a goal would have been too unachievable? I’ve done that this month and it’s been the gift that keeps on giving.

Making Wishes - Apple Promo BannerFor week commencing 9th March, book 1 in my ‘Welcome to Whitsborough Bay’ series, Making Wishes at Bay View, was the AppleBooks Free Book of the Week. This meant that it appeared on a scrolling banner on the AppleBooks home page and immediately topped the free book chart. Exciting!

What was more exciting was the impact this had on the rest of the series. Books 2 and 3, New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms and Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove were placed on a 99p promotion on AppleBooks and, on the Thursday of that week, the final instalment, Coming Home to Seashell Cottage, was released for £1.99. So a reader could buy the entire 4-book series for less than £4. Super duper bargain!

Jessica Redland Series Pricing

All books on Amazon show the chart position for the whole chart and the specific category charts. On AppleBooks, you can only see your chart position when you enter the top 200. I eagerly watched the chart, hoping the rest of the series might break the top 200 and was so excited when they did. But across the course of the week, they gradually crept up that chart and did things I never dreamed they’d do.

I was beside myself with excitement when New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms made it inside the Top 10 in the Romance Chart and reached number 37 in the overall chart by the Friday of that first week. But it didn’t stop there…

Last week saw books 2-4 all reach the Top 10 on the Romance chart … and then the Top 5! Wow! New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms peaked at #2, Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove reached #3 and Coming Home to Seashell Cottage made it to #5.

Books 2-4 - No 2, 3 & 5 in Paid Romance Chart

But they weren’t finished there. I couldn’t believe it when my editor emailed to say that New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms had made it to #6 on the overall chart i.e. all categories joined together. Then it crept up to #5. Then #4. At the time of writing, it’s still at #4 although that does change from day to day. Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove made it as high as #13 just today and Coming Home to Seashell Cottage made it to its highest overall chart position of #24.

You can click onto ‘Top Authors’ in the AppleBookstore and I actually appear on there. But look who I appear alongside! Oh. My. God!!!! Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined this.

Top Authors Visual - Showing all R Authors

Screenshot 2020-03-27 at 19.40.29Apple don’t hold anywhere near the share of the marked that Amazon have with Kindle but it’s a growing market and I am beyond thrilled that my series is right at the top of the charts just behind or ahead of huge household names like James Patterson, Dean Koontz and Hilary Mantel, including some of my absolute favourite authors – Paige Toon and Lisa Jewell. Feels like some sort of surreal dream to see one of my books right next to Lisa’s when I’ve been a huge fan of her writing for years.

Making Wishes - No 131 in Paid Apple ChartAnd it doesn’t even end there. Despite thousands of readers downloading Making Wishes at Bay View, it has still charted, making it to #131 at the highest so far in the whole chart. And my first Boldwood release, The Secret to Happiness, has also charted again with #160 in the overall chart and as high as #30 in the Romance chart. Eek!

So, in the last few weeks, dreams that weren’t even dreams for me have been achieved and, in these strange and troubled times, I’m so grateful to my amazing publishers, Boldwood Books, who gave me this opportunity to stand out. This gift that keeps on giving has been such an amazing tonic, making me smile instead of cry, and I hope that these books have brought some comfort to those needing and welcoming an escape.

Will they ever make it to the #1 slot. I don’t think they will. You’d probably hear me screaming if they did! Thank you everyone who has made this possible.

Sending much love to you and your families to stay safe.

Jessica xxx

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The one where it’s very different yet not different at all

Jessica Redland Author5 Comments
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Nalgo – part of Cayton Bay, south of Scarborough – a view 15 mins walk from our house

Yesterday was day 1 of schools being closed in the UK (to most but not all children) and today was day 1 of ‘lockdown’. The PM hasn’t officially used that term and I know some people hate it but, to me, it makes sense. My immediate household is in lockdown because hubby and I are both self-employed home-workers who have no need to travel other than hubby going out shopping for basics for us and his parents (mid-70s and early-80s) who live locally. Unfortunately my parents live about 1.75 hours away so we can’t provide them with shopping support. (Sending love to you both xx)

Because we both already work from home, each with a spare bedroom as an office, very little has changed to our ‘normality’. If I stay off social media and avoid the news, I can actually believe that this isn’t really happening. And that’s no bad thing sometimes because, quite frankly, I’m scared. But this isn’t a doom and gloom post so I won’t expand on that. Let’s get back to lockdown in our house…

Even our 13-year-old daughter’s presence doesn’t scream of ‘different’ to us because we’re used to her arriving home from school late-afternoon and being in the house while we’re still working, and we’re used to having her here in school holidays while we’re still working. So everything feels pretty much business as usual. Sending my love to all those for whom this is a completely alien, those who are unable to work from home and are still going out to work, those who have found themselves out of work and, of course, those who work for any of the key services, especially the NHS/other healthcare services and food retailers (and all those involved in the supply chain).

Ironically, staying at home for me is probably going to mean I go out more. We have a dog – a 4-year-old sprocker spaniel called Ella – and she needs walking. Hubby normally does this and meets up with a group of dog walkers as I usually work long hours and can’t find the time. Obviously that can no longer happen.

We’ve decided to make a walk with Ella our daily exercise as a family, in-keeping with the PM’s guidance of staying with a family unit, going somewhere where there aren’t people, and keeping that distance when we encounter anyone. I need to do this daily because, if I didn’t, I would sit at my desk solidly, work from morning till bedtime and never get any air at all, not even in the garden. I know this because I am a bit of a workaholic (comes from having two jobs – day job and author) and have done that for most of the past 4 years. Even with that mentality, I did at least get out and about for some fresh air with the odd trip to the shops, a weekly piano lesson and a fortnightly get-together with my good friend and fellow-writer, Sharon Booth. The daily dog walk is to make sure we all get some air and exercise and so that my bottom doesn’t continue to expand whilst welded to my chair!

We’re very fortunate to live in a village on the outskirts of Scarborough, a short walk along a coastal road to Cayton Bay. There’s a loop we can take which is about an hour and we did that this morning. It’s such a lovely walk. We met very few people and, in the main, distance was maintained when passing anyone. There were a few muppets, though. Take the couple walking towards us with a large dog. We were about to cross the road when the man moved so we thought he was going to cross the road and that the woman and dog would follow. She stayed where she was, leaving us trapped with no choice but to walk between them. Social distancing not observed. What is wrong with people?

A little further up the road, a woman was out walking 4 young children, probably aged 6-10. She wasn’t paying any attention to them, walking in front, looking at her phone, while  they meandered all over the place behind her. We tried to give them a wide berth but they got in our path. Clearly not been educated on what’s going on.

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Empty main road into town

Then, on the home stretch along the coast, a woman sat in the middle of the footpath distracted by her phone while her kids ran about in the field next to her. We had to walk on the road to bypass her and then the kids ran out the field into our path. *Rolls eyes in despair*

Aside from those few numpties we did enjoy it and, if it wasn’t for the distinct absence of vehicles, you could believe that it was a completely normal day but the lack of vehicles, particularly on the busy main road into Scarborough (that we walk over), told a different story.

We walked through a bypass and I loved this sign drawn in chalk on the side. It hasn’t come out very well on the photos but there’s a rainbow at the end of it.

Wishing you all the best, wherever you are and whatever challenges you’re facing or worries you’re having right now. If it’s safe to do so, I hope you are able to get outside – if only for a short while or even just through an open window – to see the arrival of spring and find a little comfort from the flowers, blue skies and birdsong.

Love and hugs

Jessica xx

 

 

The one where people need to calm down so I’ve doctored the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s fabulous song

Jessica Redland Author3 Comments
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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

This week in the UK, life as we know it has changed beyond all recognition. Other countries like Spain and Italy have been in lockdown for some time and, whilst we haven’t quite hit that point, we’re well on our way. Schools closed yesterday, and the Prime Minister announced that pubs/ clubs/ cafes/ restaurants/ leisure centres/ gyms would need to close with immediate effect.

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Image by Selling of my photos with StockAgencies is not permitted from Pixabay 

The past week or so has seen many strangers reaching out with amazing acts of kindness  but we’ve also seen shocking scenes of ignorance and greed while people panic buy. Supermarket shelves have been decimated with pasta, toilet roll, liquid soap and hand sanitiser being like gold dust. In fact, food in general is flying off the shelves and the ridiculous thing is that there isn’t actually a food shortage or even a threat of one. There’s plenty to go around and the problem is simply that people are grabbing so much that the supply chain can’t get enough to the supermarkets to accommodate the shocking £1bn of additional spending that has taken place this week. Wow! The government’s message today massively focused on this. People basically need to calm down, stop stockpiling, and give a chance to those who are elderly, vulnerable, working shifts and so on as well as the sensible ones among us who are just trying to shop normally.

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Image by Karen Arnold from Pixabay 

When I woke up this morning, I had Taylor Swift’s fabulous ‘You Need to Calm Down’ in my head, but with a few tweaked lyrics to fit with the current panic-buying mentality. This afternoon, I had a play about with the full song. If you’re not familiar with Taylor’s song, you can find a You Tube link to it here. I apologise to Taylor for doctoring her brilliant lyrics and hope she can forgive me. And I’m no lyricist so I hope you can forgive me too! I challenge you to sing along and see if you can fit all the words in!

Please calm down, everyone. Just stop! There’s food. There are toiletries. The supermarkets and smaller local stores are not closing down. Many restaurants, cafes and takeaways are still delivering. You don’t need a year’s worth of supplies this week!

By the way, I highly recommend Taylor Swift’s latest album, ‘Lover’. It’s amazing 🙂

Stay safe everyone.

Jessica xx

 

You Need to Calm Down by Taylor Swift, doctored by Jessica Redland

You are somebody in the same boat

But you’re takin’ things from shelves like it’s a joke

And I’m just like, damn, there’s enough to go round

Taking more than three, that’s a bad shout

But to steal from my trolley, that’s a knock-out

And I’m just like, “Hey, have you a brain?”

 

And I ain’t tryna mess with your fear and tension

But I’ve learned a lesson that kindness and compassion are what we need at this time

And greed and hate never saved the world

 

So oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

You need to calm down, you’re being a clown

And I’m just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (oh)

You need to just stop

Like can you just not buy all that stuff?

You need to calm down

 

You are somebody who is obsessed

Stockpiling all this food like you’re possessed

Why are you mad?

It makes us so sad (Makes us so sad)

Loo rolls in your house like a stockade

Pasta piled up high like a blockade

Just takin’ that soap you are being a dope

 

You just need to take several breaths and then try to restore the peace

And control your urges to buy all the food that you won’t eat

‘Cause greed never made anybody complete

 

So oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

You need to calm down, you’re being a clown

And I’m just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (oh)

You need to just stop

Like can you just not buy all that stuff?

You need to calm down

 

And we see you over there on the internet

Booking all the slots to deliver it

But we’re calling you out

We all know now we can all eat

You need to calm down

 

Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

You need to calm down (you need to calm down)

You’re being a clown (you’re being a clown)

And I’m just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (oh)

You need to just stop (can you stop?)

Like can you just not buy all that stuff?

You need to calm down

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Image by Tumisu from Pixabay Enter a caption

The one where the final part of the series is released

Jessica Redland Author1 Comment

Coming Home to Seashell Cottage Cover

I’m a bit late writing this post because release day was actually a week ago on Thursday 12th March but I’ve been deep in my editing cave with the first book of my new series and only emerged on Monday afternoon after some very long hours (think 2.45am on Monday morning). I then had quite a bit of marking to catch up on for the day job and, since then, there might have been something going on in the news that’s kind of been distracting for everyone.

Anyway, I’m thrilled to say that the full ‘Welcome to Whitsborough Bay’ series – Coming Home to Seashell Cottage – is now available on all formats – eBook on all platforms, audio and paperback. If your local library has the uLibrary platform, then you can request the audio version via your library too. That’s lots of very exciting ways in which you can discover how the series ends.

Although book 2, New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms, will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first book I ever wrote, Coming Home to Seashell Cottage is my favourite book in the series. I absolutely love this story. Readers first meet Clare in book 2 and she’s a bit of a spiky character who’s very guarded about her past. In book 4, we find out why when Clare’s past catches up with her. It has lots of exciting twists and turns and I love that some readers have compared it to a mystery.

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This book was originally released under the title of Dreaming About Daran and I was absolutely thrilled that it was crowned as the Chill With a Book Book of the Year 2019.

Here’s the blurb:

For Clare O’Connell, home is where the heart aches…


Since the age of sixteen, Clare O’Connell has lived her life by four strict rules:
1. Don’t talk about Ireland
2. Don’t think about Ireland
3. Don’t go to Ireland
4. Don’t let anyone in

And so far, it’s worked well. She’s got a great career, amazing friends, and she’s really happy. The future is all that counts, isn’t it?

However Clare is about to realise that you can run from the past, but you can’t always hide from it…

When her boss insists she travels to Ireland for work, Clare finds herself drawn back to the village of Ballykielty – the home of her family, and the home of her secrets. The one place where vowed never to return to again…

With the door to her past now wide open, the first three rules have gone out of the window. Will Clare stick to rule number four?

Can she be brave and face up to her family and the demons of her past?

An emotional novel of family, friendship and dealing with your past from top 10 bestseller Jessica Redland.

As with all the other re-releases in this series, this re-issue is mainly about tightening up elements and small adjustments here and there. The story and characters remain the same. The main change is that the cottage mentioned in the title features more prominently than it did before and it’s also changed its name. It was previously Smuggler’s View but we already had a property with the word ‘view’ in it in the series – Making Wishes at Bay View – so we needed to rename it but still keep a seaside theme, hence Seashell Cottage. I needed Clare to have more of a draw to it across the story and, as a result, there’s a new chapter and a couple of new scenes that any returning readers might enjoy.

My publishers, Boldwood Books organised a blog tour for me for the series which has been a lovely mix of extracts (written and audio) across books 2-4, a few reviews and several interviews. I’ve posted some links at the bottom of this post if anyone wants to delve into them.

Series Blog Tour Banner

There are currently some really good promotions on the books in the series. Book 2 and 3 are currently on a 99p promotion on Apple following book 1 being the free book of the week there last week. Although they’re meant to be £1.99 on Amazon, their algorithms tend to price-match with other providers so they’re also 99p on there. Books 1 and 4 are £1.99 on Apple and Kobo and 10p less on Amazon (bit random and not sure why).

As for paperbacks, these are £12.99 on Amazon (although they may be offering them at a slightly lower price) because they are print on demand. However, my wonderful publishers have made a very special arrangement with the printers when the paperbacks are ordered via a bookstore – £8.99 in line with other paperbacks from major publishers, which is exciting.

A huge thank you to everyone who has read the originals or the revised versions (or both – looking at you, Mum xx) and anyone who has bought/downloaded them ready to read/listen to.

My love and best wishes to you all as we face a difficult worldwide health and economic challenge. I’m a reader as well as a writer and I know I’m certainly going to be more grateful than ever for the escapism that reading gives me. I hope my books are able to bring some smiles, laughter and comfort to you.

Jessica xx

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Image by Linus Schütz from Pixabay

Blog Tour Links:

Chicks, Rogues and Scandals – Written extracts of books 2-4 and an original interview

Ginger Book Geek – Review of New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms

B for Book Review – Review of New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms, Review of Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove and Audio Extract of Coming Home to Seashell Cottage

Just Katherine – Written extracts of books 2-4 and an original interview

Being Anne – Written extracts of books 2-4 and reviews of the original books 1 and 2

Portobello Book Blog – Written extract of Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove and reviews of the original books 2 and 4

Jorie Loves a Story – Audio extracts of books 2-4 and an original interview

Books, Life and Everything – An original interview